Roleplaying Games are, at their heart, a dramatic enterprise that has been enhanced with elements drawn from wargaming roots. It grows, changes, and seeks new territory and new forms of expression at every turn.
This is inescapably true, poetically just, and makes me feel all shivery.
Like saying "Mufasa". Oooooh.
*Ahem*
We, as players, have seen the varied forms of RPGs diversify - and, as they have become more multitudinous, they have also become more refined in their implementations of varied principles.
D&D has returned to it's roots as a tactical game, and those seeking that low form of uncultured entertainment are served by it. Allow them their glory; we can be generous. I, myself, may even indulge from time to time, because my unbearable machismo demands nothing less of me than to sample all of the vast fare of the great dining-hall that is gaming.
And yet, as this change has unfolded, and the game that many of us are forced, persecuted as we are, to use as the indentifier for our hobby when asked that fateful question "So it's like D&D, then?"... ...As that has taken place, other games have risen.
We have seen the coming of White Wolf, who inspired us to tell meaningful stories of great pathos and depth to our players, while at the same time keeping the story firmly planted in the hands of the Storyteller, because we can't trust our players to go running around with a loaded plot, now, can we?
We have seen, at the same time, the rise of narrativistically empowered players as written into rules, and have seen theorists, naturally cautious of having their ideas bandied about by lesser men, carefully construct a seperate language within English to shield themselves. It's only wise, of course; if the jargon wasn't so heavy, anyone might be able to spot the astonishingly good ideas and toss out the abysmally bad ones.
Ah, the times we live in! Let us give praise to one another for these marvelous happenings, and hail the magic deer!